Ethereal Red
by Roppivicious
Summary: With the years gone between them, Roppi's changed into someone unrecognizable. With this new addition to his life and so many unanswered questions, Tsukishima wonders if he knows Hachimenroppi as well as he thought he did. Behind the closed doors and Roppi's secrets, he fears for his own sake of what hasn't been said, in the end, if it's even worth the struggle to find the answers?


**_Present day. Tsukishima's POV_**

Tsuki looked down at the piece of paper he had scribbled on the night before making sure he had bought everything he needed for tonight's dinner. He had promised Roppi he would make him beef stew after work so he didn't want to mess up. His roommate rarely requested such things from him so he couldn't afford to displease the rare commodity of the other actually knowing or wanting something to eat.

Pocketing the list of ingredients he held his head up, proud that for once he hadn't forgotten anything at the store. He had checked the list enough times before entering the store that if he had forgotten something he would have been very disappointed in himself. He had also gotten snacks and drinks for the both of them. He knew Roppi was a very impatient person and wouldn't want to wait until dinner was ready to eat, especially if his high school friend was coming back from work.

Cutting his way through familiar back streets a thought occurred to the 24-year-old blonde. _'If he_ is _working I hope Roppi will at least be home in time for dinner... I should have checked in to make sure he would be home, shoot!'_ Tsukishima's hand automatically reached for his messenger bag draped along his left side in the hope to call the onyx-haired man, but his hand fell short as he remembered that Hachimenroppi didn't ever carry a phone for whatever reason. Roppi probably made enough money to buy one, but whenever Tsuki asked why he didn't have one the carmine eyed man would just say he didn't have the need or want for it.

He hummed in bemusement as he crossed the main road while the crossing light was still white. He just hopped that Roppi would be home before the stew got too cold, or else he would have to leave it in the fridge again. Though now that he thought about it Roppi had complained about it tasting like cheap refrigerator the last time he missed a meal. Tsuki shook his head at the memory. _'Roppi has always been so picky, no wonder he's always hungry.'_

Tsukishima pulled his keys from his pocket seeing his apartment flat in view. Squinting his eyes, he tried to make out if there were any lights glowing through the cheap cotton curtain, but before he could get a good enough glimpse he heard a tear of plastic.

He hoped that wasn't what he thought it was. But he knew better than to expect anything from hope given his unlucky track record. The thuds against his leg assured him that his grocery bag did, in fact, rip open, and it was indeed what he had thought it to be. The contents of the tattered plastic bag were thankfully only cans and bottles so most things went undamaged.

Squatting to the ground Tsuki collected the fallen cans of carrots and corn, quickly stuffing them in his carrier bag before what little people littered the area tripped on them. He gathered the cans, the only thing missing was his friend's s tea. His head flew left and right in search of the tea bottle he had bought his roommate. "Oh no!" Carnelian eyes darted around the filthy pavement frantically. " ...Where'd you go?" He mumbled picking up his remaining bags.

Following the slant of the narrow street, he was lead to an alley where thankfully he found Roppi's tea stalled out from its rolling by a crease in the pavement. He put down the bags in his hand in favor of picking up the runaway bottle. "Thank goodne-" He cut himself off, his eyes meeting that of shocked red ones as he lifted himself from his previously bent position.

"Ha-hahn!" Came the choked moan that ricocheted around the beige brick enclosed space. Tsukishima's throat felt as if it were constricting, his mouth instantly dry from the sight of his best friend pushed up against an alley wall. The fur-clad man was in shambles, his usually pale complexion flushed fever red as he struggled to even out his breathing, midnight black hair going every which way and most of his clothes sliding off of his person provocatively. But he couldn't detach his eyes away from Roppi's. The bespectacled male's fingers twitched around the tea at the sensation of his stomach churning in uncomfortable disgust.

"Nghh!"

The blonde continued to grip the bottle tightly, unsure of what to do, his wide eyes could only stare at the display in front of him. Short breathy grunts echoed around the dirty alley as sickening sounds resonated from the scene he couldn't seem to avert his eyes from. Hachimenroppi, who was being held up against the wall by his legs, never broke eye contact as he gestured a shaky index finger to swollen red lips. Tsuki didn't quite understand the signal the compromised male was sending him, his mind was far too slow to process the simple task of thought at the moment. His breath struggled in his throat as he finally took a short step back almost tripping on air.

He couldn't comprehend what exactly he was doing, instead of ignoring this grotesque scene as if it had never even happened and running away in the direction of their home his body had alternative plans for him. Tsukishima took a few unsteady steps forward. The exact opposite of what his mind was yelling at him to do. His voice rolled up his throat faster than he could stop it. "Ro-Roppi-san..." Tsuki choked out, his voice littered in the nervous edge crawling up his chest and coming out much louder than he would have preferred it to be.

"What the..." The other man accompanying Roppi in the alley, a stranger he didn't care familiarize his eyes with, sharply turned his head, finally realizing he had been caught. His previously rough oscillations stilled as he gathered the situation, an unflattering look of flustered shame bristling the stranger's expression askew. "Oh shit!" He exclaimed, a sudden panic filling out his husky voice.

The shady looking man dropped Roppi unceremoniously onto the ground with an audible thud before rushing to zip up his pants with shaky tugs of frustration sounding in his fingers wake before he succeeded. Sweaty fear prickled the guy's brow as he made a shifty look in preparation to escape his conspicuous situation, but before the freaked out man could successfully evade him, Roppi pulled the man's wrist nearly tripping him backward as he yelled. "Wait, you fucker, my money!"

"Fuck, take it!" The shaggy-haired man yelled as he stuffed his hand into his pocket, searching for the sitting males payment. Tsuki only watches dumbly at the poorly executed transaction was done in complete haste.

The man had simply thrown a wad of money at the still sitting Roppi before continuing his retreat. The blonde watched the man's back disappear out of sight at the other end of the alleyway while Roppi sat in a heap on the ground counting the money and complaining about bad business etiquette. His carnelian eyes slowly reconnected to the obviously pissed off glare the other was pointing to each sheet of money in his hand.

This is not how Tsukishima had wanted the evening to go. He would have preferred Roppi be late to dinner then see what he had just seen. Tsuki was positive he could never erase that memory from his mind.

"Goddammit Tsuki..." Roppi spat out the curse of his name as he stuffed the large paper bills into his jacket pocket.

Now Roppi was angry with him. He had just wanted them to have a nice dinner for once, but he had somehow managed to screw that up too. Averting his eyes to the bottle in his grasp, away from the livid male who stood up prior to his gazes detachment to presumably lift his pants back into their proper placement.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mea-" Tsuki started but was cut off by Roppi roughly pulling the tea he had been strangling out of his grip. The motion jerked the blonde forward before he could think to remind his hand to release to bottle. The others snatching had him bucking his arm into himself, the accidentally rough exchange earning a particularly unamused sigh of exasperation.

"I know, I know…" He said with a dismissive wave. "But still, now I'll probably never see that _client_ again. No future money for me, which also means no future rent money for us." Roppi finished with a huff of annoyance lingering on the tip of his tongue before he began treading out of the enclosed space between backstreets. Tsuki quickly followed after his slightly limping form, walking away from the alley as if that all didn't just happen. Tsuki picked up the momentarily discarded bags as he took a few stretched out step to capture pace with the irritated stride of Hachimenroppi's.

Silence fell over the pair as they walked the rest of the way to their shared apartment. Tsuki felt incredibly awkward at the events that had just unfurled, the memory still plaguing him even as he tried not to think about it. He knew Roppi would only pretend it never happened, and he understood why. He had agreed upon Roppi's set of conditions prior to moving in with him: that Tsukishima was _not_ allowed to intervene or get any kind of involved with Roppi's work life. He was strictly forbidden to mention anything about Roppi's work or ask any questions; _no matter what_. Not even if Roppi came home beaten and bloody. That was the price of knowing what he did for a living and for him to stay with Tsukishima. As much as he understood that Roppi didn't want to hear his best friend berate him about his life choices as everyone else always did, it was difficult. However, Tsuki never wanted to point any fingers at him for what he decided to do with his life. It wasn't his place. All he really cared about was that Roppi stayed safe.

"What's in the bags?" Roppi sporadically asked, obviously attempting to change the awkward atmosphere that had surrounded them. Tsuki pushed himself to follow his lead of avoidance, having expected this to happen.

"I-I got ingredients to make us beef stew. You had asked me to make it, so..." He trailed off still incredibly uncomfortable at honestly at a lost of what to say other than to fold under the pressure their white elephant was contributing to the weight on their shoulders.

"Mm, that's nice. I could use the iron." Roppi replied disinterestedly as he struggled to twist off the cap to the tea. Tsuki only watched in mild amusement as his cheeks puffed out in his attempt to open the bottle. Roppi gave up on twisting the cap off, taking to carefully walking up the stairs to the second floor. Tsuki noticed the shake in those thin legs with each step they took but knew not to say anything about it. That would only make Roppi even more irritated than he was currently letting on.

"Do you have your keys? I think I left mine inside." Roppi inquired, leaning on the door frame nonchalantly. Tsuki never understood how he could be so irresponsible. He was older than Tsukishima and he seemed to forget his keys more than the blonde tended to lose them. Which always baffled Tsuki because Roppi had an uncanny ability for remembering things.

Walking up to the door, choosing to ignore the fact that even as he struggled to unlock it, Roppi still hadn't offered to carry even one bag. Hachimenroppi wasn't all that helpful around the apartment, he never did the dishes or cleaned the house. But Tsukishima didn't mind it, Roppi was Roppi and cleaning or being helpful wasn't in his way of living and he never expected such things from him. The fact that Roppi even bothered to pay rent was a godsend in itself. Also, it was actually preferable, given that Tsuki genuinely enjoyed taking care of the other, it made him happy to help others, but with Roppi it was a whole other level of happiness. In the past, when Roppi lived on his own, he would regularly forget to eat and come over to Tsuki's looking like nothing but decorated skin and bones. But as soon as he had moved in, that changed, making Tsuki feel useful for once.

Tsuki shook away the memory, pushing the door open and entering the poorly furnished apartment. Toeing off his shoes at the doorway and heading straight to the neighboring kitchen to put away the groceries, he opened the fridge and promptly put away the food and drinks he didn't intend to use for their dinner. Once the fridge was as full as it was going to get this month, he closed it, merely to find Roppi sitting on the adjacent counter still trying to open his tea.

"God damn fucking bottles..." Roppi cursed under his breath, attempting to use his jacket sleeve to gain some friction on the cap to no avail. "They make these impossible to open!"

Tsukishima turned around leaning against the sink, a pleasant grin gracing his features. He stretched out his arm offering to open present name to the brunette's existence since he seemed so incapable to do with his dainty hands. Roppi looked up at his hand, the glare he was previously directed at the formidable container now aimed at his aiding gesture.

"Need some help?" Tsuki asked, the grin never leaving his face merely widening as Roppi's eyebrows furrowed in distaste.

"Fine," Roppi averted his eyes in an exaggerated roll while he handed him the bottle. "Only 'cause I don't feel like messing with it anymore."

"You're so stubborn." Tsuki laughed easily breaking the plastic seal in one twist. Roppi clicked his tongue as he snatched the bottle from his hands, chugging the contents greedily, seeming to be thoroughly dehydrated. But then again why wouldn't he be thirsty after all _that_ …

At the thought, Tsukishima's gaze swiftly shifted away from the sight of Roppi's lips pressed against to bottle, staring his trepidation at the drain of the sink in hopes to clean his thoughts of such things.

Hachimenroppi gasped when he finally got his fill, the dramatized sound regaining Tsuki's focus to catch on the movement of him whipping the excess liquid off his chin. Fluttering red eyes looked curiously at him, dark thin brows raised in unspoken questioning. His cheeks flushed as he realized he had been staring at Roppi's mouth this entire time. The comfortable atmosphere they had finally managed to settle in vanished as Tsuki whipped around pretending to prepare the food.

He heard a soft thud of Roppi slumping off the counter before footsteps started retreating away from the kitchen. The sound of the shower eventually filled the cold silence of the kitchen as he started actually preparing to cook instead of having an internal freak-out.

* * *

 ** _Two years ago, The Hilton hotel. Hachimenroppi's POV._**

Roppi wasn't sure why he had stopped hanging out with his high school friend Tsukishima. Besides his dangerous everyday life, there wasn't much stopping him from talking to him. He knew where the other lived but never had the time to visit his only friend. Now that he thought about it he was currently close to where Tsuki's apartment was. Though he supposed Tsuki wasn't the type of person to willingly hang out with yakuza affiliated prostitutes, so he wouldn't be surprised that if he ever did see the dorky blond again he would just shun him like everyone else.

' _Then again Tsuki was and never will be like everyone else.'_ Roppi thought needlessly as he lifted his head from the warmth of the pillow. He wasn't sure what had brought the sudden thoughts of his friend to his mind. But he didn't object to thinking of Tsuki, it was a good distraction that didn't annoy him too much.

He huffed, knowing he would have to leave the warmth of the bed. His tired eyes searched around the dark hotel room of his current client for the man's briefcase. He had been instructed to look through a certain file the man always kept on his person.

Roppi stealthily slid off the bed, wincing at his sore muscles as he walked towards the carefully placed briefcase. A chill ran up his naked form as he stopped in front of the table the case was placed on. The raven quietly tisked at seeing that it had a combination lock on it. It wasn't that he couldn't crack the code, just simply that it took more effort than picking the lock with a paper clip or bobby-pin. He moved his ear over the case, slowly fingering the combination awaiting the faint click he was bound to hear. He jumped when he heard the shuffle of a blanket but soon calmed as he saw that his client was still sound asleep.

Hearing all the necessary clicks the case snapped open. Roppi quickly scanned the insides for the folder marked _Chihirou Yuuji_ , finding it at the bottom under a false cover. Hachimenroppi grinned, reading the contents of the folder. _'This Yuuji guy is a naughty bird indeed.'_ He mentally insulted the son of his client as he read all the atrocious things daddy covered up for him. _'Arson, weapons and drug smuggling, murder, rape... This fuckers' done it all! No wonder the Awakusu-kai wanted info on him, Yuuji's crossing all his tracks over theirs.'_

Roppi shook his head, stuffing the file back in place and closing the case as if he had never touched it. Now all he had to do was leave, he already got paid so it was bouncing time. His head turned looking for his clothes and shoes. He bent down and put on his boxers and pants. His hand froze mid reach as a draft of air hit his bare back. He gulped in dread, slowly picking up his jacket, not even bothering to grab his shirt. He snaked his hand into his jacket pocket gripping onto the handle of his switch blade.

 _'Fuck.'_

Spinning around on his heels he faced the towering man he had known was behind him. He hadn't heard him get out of bed or even walk behind him, but he had knew as soon as he felt that slight change in the air that his cover was blown. "Chihirou-san, you're awake." Roppi said sickly sweet hoping to just get away without any dire repercussions, keeping his switchblade concealed, trying to play off as if he was just leaving and hadn't done anything else. But he knew from the deathly glare in the large man's eyes that he had seen him looking through his briefcase.

Chihirou didn't even say a word in return, instead, sticking to the opposite of what Roppi wanted to do. The man's large fist was airborne before he could properly dodge it, the impact connecting to his left cheek and sending him to the floor. He hurriedly sprung up, ignoring the smarting sensation of his muscles as he flipped out his knife. He really hadn't wanted to be in a fight today, his body still hurt and he just wasn't in the mood for violence, so he was extremely pissed off that he was forced into a fight.

"Who the fuck are you working for!?" The man accused, swinging another fist, this time aiming to the raven's stomach. Roppi just barely avoided the impact, merely feeling the side of the brunette haired male's fist graze his side. He managed to cut the other as he spun away from his attacker. But his graceful spin caused his leg to spasm at the most inconvenient time possible. His hair was grasped just as he fell to his knees. His head roughly smashed into the carpeted ground, a gasp escaping him as a knee was brought down on his spine with enough force to knock the air out of his lungs. His switchblade was wedged out of his fingers and thrown three feet away from his grasp, he struggled underneath the larger man to no avail.

"Get the fuck off me, you asshole!" Roppi shouted, when his head was lifted up from the floor. His hand was crushed under the weight of Chihirou's unoccupied knee, the raven hissed in pain. He heard the clattering sound of his switchblade being tossed away from him. He was relieved he wasn't going to be stabbed by his own knife, but still irritated that it had been taken away in the first place. He had to figure out how to get out of this fucked up situation.

"Is it the cops? No... they don't hire whores. Must be the yakuza than." Chihirou outwardly observed adding pressure to Roppi's hand.

Roppi laughed incredulously, not letting his pain affect the taunt in his voice. "Ha, how do you know I wasn't just looking for more money? It's not far fetched for a prostitute to be a thief too, nee?" he inquired, smugness dripping from his voice like poison to the ears.

Tightening in his hair was the only warning he had before his face was repeatedly slammed into the floor. Obviously, his client didn't like his answer. Roppi could only find the dry humorless irony of the situation. He had taken this job because it had sounded easy, but now he was in dangerous territory. If he wasn't careful he could easily be killed.

And he didn't want that; not now anyway.

He was flipped onto his back, Chihirou looked down at him with utter disgust and anger. An expression he was accustomed to seeing in humans. His sore face stretched into an arrogant smirk. With the flip to his back he had become closer to his jacket, his main blade may have been out of reach, but his array of flick blades were still within arm reach. His crooked grin earned him a hard punch square in the face, just as he had expected it to.

Humans were so predictable.

He ignored the pain blossoming in his eye socket knowing this was his only chance to grab for his flick blades undetected. Roppi gripped three at once from his pocket, swinging his hand expertly before the livid man could realize what he had obtained . Two of the blades punctured Chihirou's shoulder, causing him to fall back in a wave of shock and pain. A howling cry of pain echoed throughout the room, making Roppi smirk madly. The carmine eyed man took the opportunity to escape, jumping for the door. He gathered his jacket and switchblade and shot for the door knob. However he wasn't fast enough, a searing pain bloomed from his right side, but he ignored it opening the door and running as fast as he could.

He ran away and kept running.

Roppi ran until his lungs hurt from breathing the cold night air, and it was painful to move let alone breath. he stopped in an familiar alley, leaning against the wall as he caught his breathe. He hadn't noticed he was holding his side until he finally calmed down a little. Lifting his hand he glowered at the red liquid pooling in his palm.

Fuck, he'd been stabbed.

He hadn't even realized it until just then, but the pain he felt before he escaped made sense now. " _Shit_." He muttered. If he didn't get stitched up soon he would bleed to death. The wound was a lot worse than he had first thought it to be. He needed to get help, but he couldn't go to the hospital for obvious reasons. He knew he was near the bar he loitered in when he was desperate for a customer, but he didn't know anyone around the area. And he didn't have a cell phone to call his unlicensed doctor for a patch up. The only person he knew well enough and trusted in this area was Tsukishima, but he couldn't just barge in, Tsuki would undoubtedly ask questions or insist that he go to the hospital.

"Ah..." Roppi applied pressure, understanding he didn't really have much of a choice. "Fuck it." Begrudgingly he headed towards the address he had memorized out of nostalgia and habit.

If Tsuki asked questions he would just make up something, like he usually did, though Tsuki always had an odd ability to see through his lies. In that case, he supposed he'd just have to tell him the truth, and hope that Tsuki wouldn't turn his high school friend into the police. And if all else fails he could always bribe the blond, he had enough funds at the moment to do so, if he so needed. The possibility of bribery actually working were slim, however, desperation drove him to ignore that fact as his breathing ran ragged and his vision swirled.

He saw the building the address belonged to, his feet shuffling as he tried to walk as fast he could. He hissed in pain at each agonizing step up the stairs he had to take, leaning against the railing for support. He could feel his body draining with each circulating pulse. He didn't have much time before his consciousness faded. He walked to the door at the end of the outside walkway, the nameplate reading _Heiwajima Tsukishima,_ he released a sigh of relief as his blood covered knuckles wrapped against the door.

After a few silent seconds, he tried again, louder this time for good measure. Roppi felt his calves shaking, ready to buckle under his weight at any moment. His body was getting colder with each passing second, the sound of his heartbeat pounding faintly against his ears. "God damn it." Roppi cursed, sliding down the adjacent wall, his legs finally giving in.

"I can't believe I'm gonna die here." He chuckled to himself, the sound void of any amusement. His eyelids fluttered and his body trembled with the lack of blood, his body was numb and he couldn't feel his fingers. His awareness was slipping, he knew he would pass out any moment. A tingly numb feeling washed over him as his vision faded into black, he closed his eyes and let darkness encroach upon him. encasing him in a forced shut down of eternal slumber.

...

"Th-thank you..." Tsuki stuttered, slightly ashamed as he walked out the corner store.

He wasn't proud of his two in the morning candy run, but he couldn't help himself. He hadn't been able to sleep and chocolate always helped with that. He also craved it, sweets were his guilty pleasure that he couldn't help but buy even on his low and strict budget. He walked down the sidewalk head hung low and he unwrapped one of the many chocolate bars he had bought. The convenient store was right by his house but he didn't want to have to wait until he got inside to eat his treat.

"Just one right now won't hurt. Plus I'm just gonna eat them once I get inside, so there is no point in waiting." He told himself, pulling his scarf down to eat his candy. He smiled brightly as he walked up the stairs to his flat. Holding the chocolate between his teeth he searched his white messenger bag for his key as he turned the corner.

When he lifted his head his eyes grew wide in shock and then cascading into worry, his steps halted when he looked up to see a black clad man sitting in front of his door. He knew the neighborhood wasn't the best so he approached with caution, holding his keys like a weapon he was ready to throw. Getting closer he noticed the raven haired man was passed out.

 _'Maybe he's homeless... He looks really cold too. I should help him!'_ Tsukishima inwardly rationalized in record time.

Squatting down he stretched his arm out to wake the man, but his hand froze mid way at who the passed out individual was. "Roppi... Roppi-san?" He asked, but of course, wasn't given a response in return. His hand continued in its previous motion, shaking his long lost friend into the world of the waking. He hadn't seen Hachimenroppi since high school graduation, which was almost three years ago. Even when he had asked around about him no one seemed to know much, just that Roppi had gotten mixed up with some bad people. _'He must have settled down and finally came to visit me. Took him long enough.'_

"Roppi-san wake up! It's me, Tsukishima."

His insistent shaking stalled when he noticed the black and blue bruises forming on the other males dangerously pale skin. Roppi looked really bad, as if he was a corpse, his skin eerily grayish and his lips almost purple in color. He scanned over the raven in concern, biting his bottom lip nervously, hoping it was only his imagination.

Looking down he saw red covering Roppi's unnaturally pale hands. The blond's breath caught in his throat, dread bubbling up to the surface. He looked at Roppi for injuries and noticed a spot on his black pants that looked darker than the rest of the material. Moving the fur jacket out of the way Tsuki saw the reason for the blood, his body trembled with fear as he looked at the wound.

 _'It looks really bad! Really, really, really bad!'_ Tsuki panicked, looking from Roppi's unresponsive face to the horrible wound on his right side.

Tsuki moved his quivering fingers to the carmine eyed male's neck, checking for a pulse. He waited patiently for anything that would signal that Roppi would be okay. His heart raced in his chest as he felt the faintest pulse against his fingertips.

"Ah..!" Tsuki's hand shot to his pocket, flipping his phone open he searched through his contacts frantically. He pressed call when he found the name he'd been looking for. He hopped to any entity that would listen that the other answered the phone this late at night. He clenched the end of his scarf nervously as he waited for the dial tone. He nearly jumped out of his shoes when it finally connected, he was ecstatic at being greeted by a voice instead of an answering machine.

 _"Hello, Kishitani Shinra speaking."_

"H-hello! Kishitani-sensei, it's Tsukishima. I-I need you to come to my house quickly!" Tsuki cried into the receiver, his voice laced with desperation as he said off his address. "I-it's an emergency, please!"

* * *

 **A/N _: Hey'o,_ thank you for reading! This is kinda an old story I wrote a long time ago, but I figured I should finally share it, especially since it's so long already. It's about 35k+ in words altogether, and even then it's not quite finished yet. So I hope you all enjoy this story and I'd absolutely LOVE to hear your feedback and where you think the story will go! **


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